Flamingo Moon

by Carolyn Holm

IN THIS WARM AND HUMOROUS story of mothers, daughters and absent fathers, young Honey Barkin leaves her unconventional family determined to live an independent life, but a few careless choices later finds herself all too alone on the gritty streets of Los Angeles.

Armed with misguided confidence she goes from a lusty schoolmate crush to a seemingly exciting and adult affair with a middle-aged man, then drifts into a precarious foothold in a Silver Lake hipster household. Each is fun while it lasts but when things go awry, she doggedly tries to muddle along, counting on others to help her, without realizing just how dark life can become. With each setback she becomes ever more vulnerable to the consequences of her misguided choices. Finally unable to turn to anyone for help – her friends and family kept at arm’s length, and she and her mother estranged by their secrets – she finds within herself what she needs to survive, discovering her own ingenuity and strength just when she has nearly lost everything.

305 pages, Paperback

First published July 18, 2013

Reviews

[Yee Mey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't finish it, it wasn't very interesting...

[Ms. Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from Goodreads First Reads and I absolutely loved it! It was actually very sad with a lot of unfortunate events that happened to the main character, Honey. I kept wishing I could reach into the pages of this book and shake some common sense into her. She was homeless with a newborn baby for so long, struggling just to shower and have a decent meal. While she was being an excellent mother, she kept herself in this dire state for so long with an overwhelming amount of pride and fear. She did have a decent family back home who would've helped her if she didn't lie to them about having a baby or living on the streets. She didn't reach out to the father of her child, who appeared wealthy and a suitable dad to his other kids, for any sort of money or housing all because he had cheated on her. But her homeless did help her out of her inexperienced, naive state and she found a strength and smartness she never knew she had. This book was very touching and real, and I couldn't put it down because of how intriguing and compelling it was. I highly recommend it!!

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book directly from the author through some online contest. It came with a personalized note and she signed and personalized the book itself. Nice touch.

As for the book, it was ok. Honey is a teenager from a dysfunctional family who tries to make it on her own. The characters are well written. The plot is kind of slow and kind of repetitive but by the second half of the book, it moves along.

At one point, every other chapter is printed in italics and it took me a while to realize that these chapters were narrated by Honey's mother, not Honey like the rest of the book.